Quinn Priester threw seven shutout innings for Indianapolis on Sunday. The right-hander allowed just one hit, two walks, and struck out three in his latest start.
Priester hasn’t pitched this well since his start in the majors on April 26th. He made three more big league starts after that, giving up 12 runs, nine earned, in 16.2 innings. In his return to Triple-A last week, Priester allowed three runs in four innings. He faced the same Iowa Cubs roster on Sunday, and made the necessary adjustments to shut down their offense.
Priester sat 93 MPH with his sinking fastball, averaging 94.5 MPH. He picked up two whiffs on five swings against the slider, and two whiffs on four swings against his four-seam fastball. His changeup was his second-most used pitch, with two whiffs on eight swings.
TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
INDIANAPOLIS won 6-1, led by Quinn Priester’s seven shutout innings.
- 1B Malcom Nunez: 2-for-5
- 2B Andres Alvarez: 2-for-5, HR, RBI
- 3B Mike Jarvis: 1-for-4, HR, 4 RBI
- C Dylan Shockley: 1-for-3, 2B
- DH Henry Davis: 1-for-4
Andres Alvarez hit his third homer of the year. He has two in the last four games, while going 8-for-25 in his last six games. Mike Jarvis hit his first Triple-A home run, which was a grand slam in the first inning. All six runs were scored in the first. Henry Davis was removed from the game prior to his final at-bat. The Pirates have a banged up catching duo in the majors, and Davis has been hitting well in Triple-A over the last week-plus. He could be heading back to the big leagues.
STATCAST HEROES
The hardest hit ball of the game was a single by Matt Fraizer in the eighth inning. The grand slam from Jarvis traveled 353 feet at 96.7 MPH. He grounded into a double play in the eighth at 109.1 MPH. The homer from Alvarez went 334 feet at 101.6 MPH.
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE
ALTOONA lost 12-5
- RHP Po-Yu Chen: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
- C Wyatt Hendrie: 2-for-4, 2 RBI
- 2B Francisco Acuna: 1-for-1, 2B, BB, SB
- SS Tsung-Che Cheng: 1-for-4, RBI, SB
- LF Sammy Siani: 1-for-3, BB
Altoona saw ten runs scored off their bullpen in the fifth and sixth innings. Po-Yu Chen bounced back from two bad outings. He allowed nine runs in 9.1 innings over his last two starts. Prior to that, he allowed two earned runs in 11.1 innings in his first two starts of the month.
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
GREENSBORO won 5-4
- LHP Dominic Perachi: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
- C Shawn Ross: 2-for-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI
- RF P.J. Hilson: 2-for-4, HR, RBI
- 3B Jack Brannigan: 1-for-3, 2B
- LHP Jaden Woods: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Shawn Ross homered twice, giving him three homers in the last two games. He now has five homers in the month of May. Ross doesn’t hit for average, but gets on base, and has some of the best raw power in Greensboro. P.J. Hilson was added in the minor league Rule 5 draft, and was promoted to High-A this month. He’s homered six times since May 14th.
SINGLE-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
BRADENTON lost 8-7
- LF Shalin Polanco: 1-for-3, HR, BB, 3 RBI
- CF Solomon Maguire: 1-for-3, HR, BB, RBI
- 2B Wesley Zapata: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI
- 3B Javier Rivas: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI
- C Omar Alfonzo: 1-for-3, BB, RBI
Bradenton scored six of their runs in the final two innings. Shalin Polanco hit a three run homer in the eighth. They scored three with small ball in the ninth. An earlier solo shot by Solomon Maguire led to the other run of the game. LHP Connor Oliver allowed three runs in 3.1 innings. The bullpen combined for five runs, but only two earned, due to four errors in the game.
STATCAST HEROES
Omar Alfonzo had a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning at 111.5 MPH, which was the hardest hit ball in Single-A on Sunday. Carlos Jimenez allowed one earned run in two innings of relief, and had three of the fastest pitches in Single-A. Oliver picked up 13 whiffs in his 3.1 innings, which was one of the top five whiff totals in Single-A for the day. He had four on 13 swings against the sinker, five on 11 swings against the curveball, and was 2-for-2 with the changeup.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
- The full-season teams are off on Mondays.
- Rookie: FCL Pirates, 12:00 PM – TBD
